Reusable pressurized dispenser



May 26, 1959 Filed Sept. 9. 1955 F. E. WOLCOTT 2 SheetsSheet 1 a FIG. I

ago 48 4a 7 -V// 40 a0 3,; g g 1 a 3,2 24, 5 g 20 I Q a I FIG. 3 23 2.83 v INVENTOR. FRANK E WOL CO 77' A TORNE Y5 May 26, 1959 F. E. WOLCOTT 8REUSABLE. PRESSURIZED DISPENSER Filed Sept. 9. 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR. FQANK E. WOL COTT TTOPNEYS United States Patent 2,888,173REUSABLE PRESSURIZED DISPENSER Frank E. Wolcott, West Hartford, Coinn.Application September 9, 1955, Serial No. 533,346

Claims. (Cl. 222-183) V This invention relates to dispensing .devicesand more particularly to dispensers of the pressurized type, wherein thematerial to be dispensed is enclosed in a container together with acharge of pressurized gas which serves to expel the enclosed materialunder the control of a dispensing valve.

The rise of dispensers of this type has heretofore been limited byconsiderations of cost arising from the fact that such dispensers areone-shot delt ices intended to be thrown away when empty. Because oftheir throw-away character, dispensers of this type, heretofore havebeen economically practical, and then/onlyto a limited de gree only whenthe cost of the parts of the dispenser is kept to a minimum. Since thedispensing valve in a device of this type represents a large fraction ofits total cost, such valves in particular must be designed for minimumcost, which correspondingly limits their performance. The sameconsiderations have heretofore made it uneconomical to market small unitquantities of a prodnet in dispensers of this type, i.e., quantities ofless than, say, six ounces, because the cost of the dispenser itselfbecomes too large in proportion to the value of such small quantities ofproduct. Accordingly, a principal object ofthe present invention is toprovide an improved dispensing apparatus of the pressurized type inwhich the dispensing valve portion of the dispenser is reusable.

whereby limitations as to cost of the dispensing valve heretoforeencountered are avoided and thereby making economically feasible the useof dispensing valves of much higher quality, and correspondingly betterperformance than dispensing valves employed heretofore.

A further object or" the invention is to provide a dispenser having areusable outer container to which the dispensing valve portion of thedispenser is secured, the material to be dispensed and propellent beingcontained in an inner container which is replaceable, while the outercontainer and dispenser head may be used repeatedly over a long periodof time.

Another object is to provide a dispenser which has all the advantages ofself-pressurized dispensers of the prior art, but is economicallyfeasible for dispensing small unit.

quantities of a product. 7

Another object is to provide dispensing apparatus of theself-pressurized type in which both filling of the container with theproduct to be dispensed and charging of' the container with pressurizedgas are substantially simplified and may be accomplished withoutrefrigeration.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more indetail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of one form of adispenser constructed in accordance with the present invention; f

i stiff tube ice structure shown in Referring to the drawings, andparticularly Fig. 1,

a dispenser constructed in accordance with the invention includes threemain parts, an outer container 1, an inner container 2 which is adaptedto be filled with the product to be dispensed and charged with apressurized gas propellent, and a separable cap or headpiece 4 for the,outer container 1 carrying the dispensing valve 3. i

The inner container 2 has side walls 6, a closed bottom, and a top 8 ofsheet metal crimp'ed to the side walls. In the center of the top is anopening or port 10- having a slight downturned lip 12 extending aroundits peripheral edge. Secured to the under side of the top beneath theport is a shallow cup-shaped valve holder 14 wider than opening 10 andhaving a bottom formed with a central aperture 16 and a depending nipple18. Pressed onto the nipple is a depending siphon tube 20 which extendsdown to a point adjacent the bottom of the container.

The valve holder 14 contains a valve or seal 22 which serves as aclosure for the opening 10. The valve, consists of a disc orbutton-shaped piece of resilient material which is approximately thesame diameter as the bottom of cup 14 and which is of such a thicknessas to be normally slightly compressed between the bottom of the cup andlip 12 and surrounding portion of top 8, so as to form a seal with thetop about the periphery of the opening 10. The upper surface of thevalve has a circular groove 23 which mates with the lip 12 to enhancethe effectiveness of the seal. The under side of the valve has aperipheral portion 24 which rests on the bottom of the cup and adownwardly concave central portion 26 which spans the aperture 16 andforms a space immediately above it. The valve rality of radial grooves28 in its under side which extend outwardly from the concave portion 26and connect to vertical grooves 34) in the side of the valve. As shownin the drawing, the vertical grooves 30 preferably terminate at theirupper ends slightly short of the upper bottom of the lowerends ofgrooves30 to the opening 16. With this arrangement, the valve 22 is normallyheld closed in effective sealing relation with the cover by both its ownresilience and the pressure Within the container, and thereby providesan effective closure for the container.

, The cap 4 includes a body portion 36 dimensioned to fit" over the topof the inner container 2 and formed with a depending flange 38 by whichthe cap is removably secured to the outer container 1. The cap isfastened to the outer container by means of a threaded connection 42which permits the cap to be drawn down tightly onto the rim 40 of thetop of the inner container. The cap ,4 carries a dispensing valve 3comprising a cup-shaped casing 46 which fits into a recess in the underside of the cap body '36, a tubular valve stem 48 having side openings59 in its lower end and which projects above the body through an tionnozzle and finger piece 52 on the top of the stem by which the stem maybe tilted, and a valve seat 54 of resilient material which cooperateswith openings 50 to of the stem.

Depending from and integral with the casing 46 is a 56 whichcommunicates at its upper end with also has a plu-' opening therein, acombina the valve seat. The tube 56 is so dimensioned that when the capis applied to the container, the lower end of the tube penetratesthrough the opening 10, engages the portion of valve 22 in registrytherewith, and depresses the valve downwardly out of contact with thecontainer top. When valve 22 is so depressed, it is distorted in themanner shown in Fig. l, and a flow passage will be created from the topof siphon tube 2%) to the tube 56 through the space formed by theconcave portion 26, the grooves 28 and 34), the space between the sideof valve and the side of the cup, and the space between the top of thevalve and the overlying portion of the container top. The tube 52 hasopenings 58 at its lower end which communicate with the interior of thevalve cup 14 when tube 56 penetrates the opening 10, and thus when thecap is applied to the container and opens the valve a fiow passage isformed from the siphon tube all the way to the dispensing valve 3,thereby automatically conditioning the dispenser for operation undercontrol of the dispensing valve. A gasket on the tube 56 is compressedbetween casing 46 and the container top to prevent leakage between thetube and opening it Fig. 4 shows another form of the dispenser in whichthe cap is formed with a depending stiff tube 64 which is integral withthe cap body, and is dimensioned like tube 56 so as to penetrate theopening in the container top when the cap is applied to the container.The tube carries a gasket 66 which is compressed between the containertop and a boss 68 on the tube to prevent leakage around the opening.This avoids unsightliness and messiness when the cap is removed toreplace the inner container and avoids contact of the material beingdispensed with the interior of the cap and outer container which, insome cases, might be disadvantageous. The valve 70 in the valve cup 72is of slightly different outline than the valve 22 shown in Figs. 1-3,but has concave central portion 78 permitting the valve to be depressedand grooves 74, 76 in the bottom and sides thereof which provide a howpassage to tube 64 when the valve is depressed, in exactly the same wayas valve 22. An upstanding integral threaded neck 80 on the cap has acentral bore 32 connected to the tube 64, and forms an adapter to whichany desired type of dispensing valve may be connected.

When the container does not have a cap applied to it, as shown in Fig. 5it may be conveniently fitted with a protective covering 84 of cardboardor the like to prevent inadvertent opening of its valve.

A dispenser constructed in accordance with the invenvention has severalimportant advantages. The cap may be removed from the container at anytime, and no loss of container pressure will result because the valve inthe container will be automatically closed by both its own resilienceand the pressure within the container. Moreover, the removable cap andthe dispensing valve which it carries and the outer container may beused over and over again with a succession of inner containers; thus thedispensing valve may be of high quality capable of providingconsiderably better performance and dispensing a wider variety ofproducts than valves economically feasible for dispensing the contentsof but a single container. Also, the outer container may be formed ofmaterials normally not usable in pressure containers and may be of amuch more decorative character than would be practical in the usualnon-reusable containers. The user need purchase only a single dispensingcap and outer container, since inner containers containing a variety ofproducts can be used therewith whenever desired. Moreover, the containerportion of the dispenser has a minimum number of parts, and hence may befabricated at minimum cost. Therefore, since the containers areinexpensive and do not have to hold a quantity of material sufiicient tobear the cost of a dispensing valve on each, the present invention makesfeasible the pressurized packaging of products in conveniently smallunit quantities of the order of, say, two ounces, which is a particularadvantage in the case of products not usually retailed in largequantities, or in the case of products susceptible to spoilage wherepurchase of a larger quantity might be wasteful. Additionally fillingand pressurizing of containers constructed according to the invention issubstantially simplified and may be carried out without therefrigeration heretofore required and after the top is crimped on thecontainer by simply inserting into the opening in the top a fittinghaving, for example, a neck similar to the tube 64, and forcing into thecontainer both the material to be dispensed and the pressurized gaspropellent.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingsshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the followingclaims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features ofthe invention herein described and all statements of the scope of theinvention which,

as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween. g

I claim:

1. A dispenser comprising an outer container, a removable cap for theputer container containing a dispensing valve, means 'to secure the capto the outer container by movement toward the container, an innercontainer removably mounted within the outer container for holding aquantity of material to be dispensed and a pressurized propellent, saidinner container having a top wall provided with an aperture, a dependingsiphon tube in registry with the aperture, and a depressable secondvalve between the tube and aperture, said depressable second valvecomprising a cup member secured to the top wall between the siphon tubeand aperture, and a disc of resilient material in the cup normallyengaging the said top wall in sealing relationship and having aconcavity in its lower surface permitting the disc to be depressed awayfrom sealing relationship with said top wall, a depending stiff memberon the removable cap fixed relative thereto and being of a lengthsuflicient to engage and open said second valve as the cap is beingsecured to the outer container, and means forming a passage through saidstiff member providing a continuously open passage between saiddispensing valve and said siphon tube as long as the cap and outercontainer are secured together.

2. A dispenser comprising an outer container, an inner container adaptedto nest within the outer container for holding a quantity of material tobe dispensed and a pressurized propellent, a top wall on said innercontainer having an aperture, a depending siphon tube in registry withthe aperture, and a depressible valve between the tube and apertureconstructed and arranged for movement toward and away from said aperturein a direction axially of said inner container and urged toward sealingengagement with said aperture by the pressure of the pressurizedpropellant within the inner container, a removable cap for the outercontainer containing a dispensing valve, and a depending stiff member onthe removable cap fixed relative thereto and having an enlarged portionseating about the periphery of the aperture in the inner container andhaving a reduced portion received in said aperture in depressingengagement with the depressible valve, and means providing acontinuously open passageway through said stiff member connecting saiddispensing valve and said depressible valve.

3. In a dispenser having a detachable reusable cap provided with adispensing valve and a downwardly projecting nipple fixed relativethereto and communicat ing with the dispensing valve, 9. containeradapted to hold material to be dispensed and pressurized propellent andhaving a topwall provided with an opening for receiving said nipple, acup-shaped valve holder secured to the underside of the container top inalignment with said opening and having an aperture in the bottomthereof, a siphon tube depending from the valve holder in registry withsaid aperture, and an inwardly opening valve for controlling flowbetween the siphon tube and the opening in the container top, said valvecomprising a depressible button of resilient material in said holderengaged between the bottom of the holder and the portion of said topsurrounding said opening to, seal said opening when said capanddispenser are in disassembly and engageable by'said nipple formovement of the button out of engagement with the portion of the topsurrounding said opening as the cap is being moved into assembly withthe dispenser.

4. In a dispenser having a detachable reusable cap provided with adispensing valve and a downwardly projecting nipple fixed relativethereto and communicating with the dispensing valve, a container adaptedto hold material-to be dispensed and pressurized propellent and having atop wall provided with an opening for receiving said nipple, acup-shaped valve holder secured to the underside of the container top inalignment with said opening and having an aperture in the bottomthereof, a siphon tube depending from the valve cup in registry withsaid aperture, and a depressible valve for controlling flow between thesiphon tube and the opening in the container top including a button ofresilient material in said cup extending between the bottom of the cupand the portion of said top surrounding said opening, said button beingdepressibly engageable by the nipple as the cap is being attached to thedispenser, said depressible valve having a downwardly concave portion onits underside spanning said central aperture and having passagesarranged to connect said downwardly concave portion with the uppersurface of said depressible valve when the upper surface is depressedaway from said top by said nipple.

5. In a dispenser having a detachable reusable cap provided with adispensing valve and a downwardly projecting nipple fixed relativethereto and communicating with the dispensing valve, a container adaptedto hold material to be dispensed and pressurized propellent, a top wallon the container provided with a central opening having a downturnedperipheral lip for receiving the nipple, a valve cup secured to theunderside of the top in alignment with said central opening, said valvecup having a central aperture in the bottom thereof and a dependingsiphon tube in registry with the aperture, and a valve of resilientmaterial in the cup compressed between the bottom of the cup and saidperipheral lip, said valve having a downwardly concave portion on itsunderside spanning said central aperture and having vertical grooves inits side terminating at their upper ends short of the upper surface ofthe valve and connected at their lower ends to said concave portion, thecentral portion of said valve being depressingly engageable by saidnipple on the cap as the cap is being attached to the dispenser to forma flow passage between said siphon tube and said central opening.

6. In a refillable and repressurizable container adapted to holdmaterial to be dispensed and pressurized propellent and adapted to beused with a detachable cap having a depending stiff tube fixed relativethereto and a dispensing valve in communication with said stiff tube toform a self pressurized dispenser, a top on the container provided witha central opening in which said tube is receivable and having aperipheral downwardly extending lip, a shallow valve cup wider than saidopening secured to the underside of the top in alignment with saidopening, said cup having a central aperture and a depending nipple inthe bottom thereof, a siphon tube depending from the nipple, and a valveenclosed in the cup comprising a resilient disc-shaped member having anupper surface provided with a groove arranged to mate in compressionalengagement with said lip and having a lower surface provided with acentral downwardly concave portion spanning said aperture and aperipheral portion in compressional engagement with the bottom of saidcup, said valve having radial grooves in its lower surface extendingoutwardly from said concave portion and vertical grooves in its sideconnected to'said radial grooves and terminating at their upper ends atpoints downwardly spaced from the upper surface of said valve, the uppersurface of said valve being moved out of engagement with said containertop by the depending tube on the cap as the cap is being attached to thecontainer.

7.:In a dispenser, a disposable and replaceable pressure containeradapted to contain material to be dispensed and pressurized p'ropellent,a top wall on the container provided with an opening, a valve cupsecured to the underside of the top in alignment with said opening andhaving a central aperture in, the bottom thereof, a depending siphontube connected to the valve cup in alignment with said central aperture,a valve in said cup including a button of resilient material compressedbetween the bottom of the cup and the portion of the top surroundingsaid opening,' said button having a downwardly concave portion onitsunderside spanning said central aperture, a reusable cap having adispensing valve, means to. removably apply the cap to the dispenser bymovement toward the container and a depending stiflf tube on the capfixed relative thereto receivable in said opening and engageable withthe central portion of said button to depress the button downwardly outof engagement with said container top as the cap is being applied to thecontainer, said button having passages connecting said downwardlyconcave portion with said opening when the button is depressed to permitflow from said siphon tube to said opening, and ports in said tube incommunication with the interior of the valve cup when the tubepenetrates said opening.

8. In a dispenser, a disposable and replaceable pressure containeradapted to contain material to be dispensed and pressurized propellent,a top wall on the container provided with an opening having a downwardlyextending peripheral lip, a valve cup secured to the underside of thetop in alignment with said opening and having a central aperture in thebottom thereof, a depending siphon tube connected to the valve cup inalignment with said central aperture, a valve enclosed in the cupcomprising a resilient disc-shaped member having an upper surface incompressional engagement with said lip and having a lower surfaceprovided with a central downwardly concave portion spanning saidaperture and a peripheral portion in compressional engagement with thebottom of said cup, said member having radial grooves in the lowersurface thereof extending outwardly from said concave portion andvertical grooves in the sides thereof connected to said radial groovesand terminating at their upper ends at points downwardly spaced from theupper surface of said member, whereby when said upper surface isdisplaced downwardly out of contact with said lip said grooves and saidconcave portion form a flow passage connecting said siphon tube to saidopening, a reusable cap having a dispensing valve, means to apply thecap to the container by movement thereolf toward the container, adepending stifi' tube on the cap fixed relative thereto andcommunicating with said dispensing valve, said tube being receivable insaid opening and engageable with said member to displace said memberdownwardly out of contact with said lip as the cap is being applied tothe container, said stiff tube further having ports in the wall thereofregistrable with the interior of the valve cup asssnrs when the tubepenetrates the opening in the container top.

9. In a dispenser, a disposable and replaceable pressure containeradapted to contain material to be dispensed and pressurized propellent,a top Wall on the container provided with an opening, a valve cupsecured to the underside of the top in alignment with said opening andhaving a central aperture in the bottom thereof, :1 depending siphontube connected to the valve cup in alignment with said central aperture,a valve in said cup including a button of resilient material compressedbetween the bottom of the cup and the portion of the top surroundingsaid opening, said button having a downwardly concave portion on itsunderside spanning said central aperture, a reusable two-part separableouter shell dimensioned to enclose the container including a cap havinga dispensing valve and arranged to fit over the container top, means toattach the cap to the outer shell by movement toward the shell, a stifftube communicating with said dispensing valve depending from said capand fixed relative thereto, said stiff tube being dimensioned topenetrate said opening and depress said button when the container isenclosed in the shell and as the cap is being attached to the shell,said button having passages connecting said concave portion with theupper surface of the button when the button is depressed to form a flowpath from the siphon tube to the opening in the top through which thecontents of the container may be expelled, and a circumferential gasketsurrounding said stifi tube and engageable with the container top at alocus surrounding said opening.

u 10. A valve for use with a pressurized dispenser of the type having atop wall with an aperture therein comprising a cup-shaped valve supporthaving a central aperture in the bottom thereof and adapted to bemounted on the underside of the dispenser top Wall in alignment withsaid aperture, and a disc of resilient deformable material seated insaid valve support with the sides thereof engaging the side Wall of thevalve support, said disc having a central recess in the bottom thereofregistering with the aperture in the bottom of the valve support and agroove in the side thereof connected at one end to the recess in thedisc bottom and arranged to be connected to the aperture in the top wallof the dispenser in response to movement of the center portion of thedisc toward the bottom of said valve support and out of sealingengagement with the aperture in the dispenser top wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,961,371 Mapes June 5, 1934 1,983,381 MacGill Dec. 4, 1934 2,482,794Peterson Sept. 27, 1949 2,514,030 Coyle et a1. July 4, 1950 2,653,625Peltz Sept. 29, 1953 2,681,752 Jarrett June 22, 1954 2,683,484 FalligantJuly 13, 1954

